


Bon Voyage

by alessandralee



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Sibling Bonding, Sisters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-12
Updated: 2014-02-12
Packaged: 2018-01-12 01:30:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1180299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alessandralee/pseuds/alessandralee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laurel is about to start a new job in Blüdhaven, so Thea, Felicity, and Sara give her a little send-off.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bon Voyage

“Thanks again for helping me pick out that outfit, Laurel,” Felicity says as they exit the elevator on Laurel’s floor, “I just don’t think I have a knack for ball gowns.”

“Any time. That dress looked amazing on you. I’m sure that everyone at the Central City Police Ball won’t be able to keep their eyes off of you.”

“I’m really only worried about one person in particular, but thanks.”

Laurel fits her key into the lock on the doorknob and both women step into the apartment. Immediately, Laurel notices that the lamp she’d left on when she left to meet Felicity is now turned off, leaving her apartment in near complete darkness. Under most circumstances, this would worry her, after all the assassins and cult members and henchmen she’s found lurking in those shadows over the years. But tonight Laurel felt fine dismissing it. She flicks the lamp on and follows a grinning Felicity, who is already heading for the living room./p>

As soon as Laurel reaches the doorway, Felicity flicks the living room light on and a small chorus of voices yell.

“Surprise!”

Thea and Sara pop up from the other side of her couch, holding a large, professionally printed banner between them. It reads “Bon Voyage, Laurel” in bright blue letters.

“You guys, this is amazing!” Laurel nearly squealed. She couldn’t stop smiling.

The serious look on Thea’s face breaks the excitement.

“She’s not surprised. Why are you not surprised?” She turns to Felicity. “Did you tell her?”

“No, I-“

“She didn’t have to tell me. She’s a terrible liar and she’s been acting extra evasive for days,” Laurel explains as Thea loops the elastic strap of a glittery party hat under her neck.

“I am not a terrible liar. In fact I am an excellent liar. In case you all forgot, I managed to hide the fact that-“

“my brother, his bodyguard, my ex-boyfriend, and Sara all put masks on at night and hunt down criminal lowlifes,” Thea finished for her. “And that was a miracle.”

Clearly, that hurts Felicity’s pride, so Laurel tries to soften the accusation a bit.

“Really, it’s not that you’re a bad liar, it’s more that you get flustered easily.”

“Well, I can’t deny that one,” Felicity says with a sigh.

At some point during this exchange Sara must have disappeared into the kitchen, because she reappears now with a tray full of drinks in giant cocktail glasses.

Laurel eye them warily.

“Strawberry daiquiris,” Thea announces. Then she presses one into Laurel’s hand a reassures her, “Virgin strawberry daiquiris.”

“You really didn’t have to do this,” Laurel tells them. But she’s so thrilled that they did.

“Like we were going to let you head off to Blüdhaven without a big sendoff,” Thea says with a wink.

“And Thea wanted guinea pigs for Verdant’s new catering menu,” Sara finally speaks up as she settles onto Laurel’s couch.

“Don’t forget about the part where she needs an excuse to beg you for every detail about the move. She’s already planning a trip to come visit you. She wants to see the eligible young men that the city has to offer,” Felicity plops down next the Sara, a full tray of food in her lap. “Try the spicy crab puffs, they’re great.”

“First of all, I’m right here. Stop talking about me like I’m not. Second, you loved being first guinea pig. You didn’t even have to leave your little hideout to pickup takeout like you usually do. I think you’re at the club more than I do. And third, I can’t help it if I’ve exhausted all the decent guys Starling has to offer. And more than a few of the indecent ones.” That last part is said with a wink, as Thea snatches a crab puff off of the tray.

“How do you even find time to run the club?” Laurel asks, legitimately curious. “The Queen Philanthropic Fund is running nearly a dozen different charities, and I hear you’re popping up at every one of them. Do you even sleep anymore?”

It takes a lot for Laurel to keep up with a speed conversation between The and Felicity, so she’s lucky to have gotten a word in edgewise.

“I have a team,” is Thea’s reply. “A team that I abandoned for the night so that you could tell me all about the apartment you picked out. Is it decorated yet? Because I know a guy who does excellent interior design. But we’ll get to that later. First, I need to know all about wherever you’ve been for the last 4 months, and whatever trouble you’ve been getting yourself into,” that last bit is directed at Sara, who Laurel is glad to see, despite the fact that she drops off the face of the earth every so often. “Ollie’s determined to keep his masked adventures to himself, not that Felicity isn’t filling me in on everything important. But you’re illicit activities are still a mystery.”

“There’s really not much to say. I’ve been keeping a fairly low profile. I actually took an art class in Cape Town, and I spent some time in Ankara.”

“You took art classes while beating the shit out of drug dealers and rapists?”

“No, I took art classes after a night of a beating the shit out of drug dealers and rapists. And murderers. It was only twice a week.” She turns to Laurel, “Dad only knows about the art class.”

Laurel can’t help but roll her eyes at this. “Dad definitely knows you haven’t stopped with the Canary business. Give him some credit.”

Eventually, Felicity gets Sara to open up on exactly how many men she incapacitated over the last few months, including a number of graphic descriptions as to how, which Laurel will have to pretend to forget come morning. Then the conversation turns back to Laurel’s impending move. She tells Thea that she has enough furniture being shipped from Starling, she definitely doesn’t need an interior decorator. She wins that one, but she’s pretty sure that whatever visit Thea has planned with end with a lot of expensive new home décor. Then Thea asks about the Blüdhaven nightlife, which Laurel can only say is strong enough to support a decent amount of crime. That seems to interest Felicity and Sara more so than Thea, though.

At one point, Thea and Felicity attempt karaoke, but they figure out after one song that neither of the Lance sisters will join them, so they move on. Out comes the stack of board games Felicity hid under the coffee table, and Thea schools them all at Cards Against Humanity. Laurel is almost worried about the depravity of the younger woman’s mind. 

It’s nearly two in the morning when Felicity grabs a cab, promising that she’ll stop by on Tuesday to help Laurel get the last of her stuff into her car. Thea’s private car arrives soon after that, and as Thea gets in she tells Laurel not to touch a single dish because a cleaning company will be stopping by that afternoon. Thea has always has an eye for details.

Which leaves Laurel alone with Sara.

“So,” Laurel beings, “does Dad know you’re in town?”

“No,” Sara replies quietly. “I’m catching a bus to Metropolis in a few hours and I’ve only been in town since late this morning.”

“Oh,” is all Laurel can think of to respond with.

It used to be so easy to talk to Sara. They were never the attached at the hip, best friends kind of sisters, but they used to be somewhat close. Before Sara slept with Oliver. Before they both died. Before it turned out Sara was alive. And an assassin. Before years and years of anger and bitterness and blame.

But they were doing better, this party definitely proved that. A year ago, Laurel couldn’t stand to be in the same room as Sara. She hated her sister then. And tonight they’d spent the entire evening together. They probably couldn’t have done that one on one, but it was a small victory.

“Are you looking forward to the new job?” Sara finally asks. No one had really mentioned the job much that night.

“I’m looking forward to a new start,” the second part is harder for Laurel to admit, “but sometimes it feels like I’m running away from Starling.”

Sara tentatively puts a hand on Laurel’s shoulder.

“Leaving Starling City because of all the shit that’s happened doesn’t mean you’re running away. It just means you’re looking out for your own happiness. If you were really trying to run away, it wouldn’t matter where you were heading. Whatever you were running from would follow you everywhere.”

Laurel relaxes a little. It’s hard not to believe that when Sara says it. She certainly has the experience to back it up.

“So you think I’m doing the right thing?”

“I think Blüdhaven won’t know what hit it.”

Both sisters laugh, the tension of their relationship and of Laurel’s worries briefly falling away.

Slowly again, Laurel reaches out and wraps her arms around Sara and pulls her in. 

The hug is stiff and a little bit awkward, but still comforting.

“You’re an amazing lawyer,” Sara begins, her voice slightly muffled by Laurel’s hair. “You’re got a big heart to search for justice, and the smarts to make sure it happens. You’re going to change the world and nothing can stop you.”

They both stay like that for a bit, Laurel trying hard not to let tears spill from her eyes. If she closed the, she could almost pretend it was 8 years ago, when things were easy. Back when her relationship with Sara wasn’t like balancing on a tightrope. 

Soon enough Sara headed out, taking only a large black backpack with her. She promised she’d keep in touch. Laurel wasn’t exactly sure how she’d manage that, but she did believe it would happen.

When Laurel finally collapsed into her bed, she felt more relaxed than she had in days. Her sister and her friends had managed to alleviate a lot of the stress she was feeling about her big move. She knew that, if she ever needed the, she had Felicity, Thea, and Sara waiting in the wings.


End file.
